5 EMDR Tools to Prepare for Online EMDR Treatment - NYC + Beyond
Prepare your mind and body with these EMDR tools for therapy in NYC
Whether you're working with online EMDR therapists or beginning in-person sessions in NYC, it’s important to understand the EMDR tools that help your nervous system prepare for the work ahead. These tools support all phases of the stages of EMDR and are especially useful if you're beginning online EMDR treatment from the comfort of home.
Before you embark on any reprocessing of traumatic memories, it’s important to start with preparation, learning the EMDR tools necessary to ensure that your nervous system is ready for the work ahead.
Understanding the Stages of EMDR
Before diving into specific EMDR tools, it’s important to understand the structure of the therapy itself. EMDR therapy follows an eight-phase protocol designed to ensure safety, containment, and effectiveness. These stages of EMDR help you and your therapist move gradually from preparation to reprocessing and integration.
Phase 1 – History Taking
In this stage, your therapist learns about your background, identifies possible treatment targets, and helps determine if EMDR is an appropriate fit. For those working with online EMDR therapists, this stage often includes intake interviews and building initial rapport over video sessions.
Phase 2 – Preparation
Much of EMDR therapy takes place here, before reprocessing begins. You’ll learn EMDR tools such as grounding, resource-building, and nervous system regulation techniques. These tools ensure you feel safe and stable enough to revisit past memories without becoming overwhelmed.
Phases 3–6 – Assessment, Desensitization, Installation, and Body Scan
These stages are where reprocessing begins. Traumatic memories are activated and worked through, while your brain learns to associate them with new adaptive beliefs. The goal is to reduce distress and rewire the way your body and mind hold past experiences.
Phase 7 – Closure
Each session ends with practices that return you to stability and calm. This ensures that even after processing difficult material, you leave the session grounded and regulated.
Phase 8 – Reevaluation
At the start of each new session, your therapist checks progress, revisits past work, and identifies next steps. This allows EMDR therapy to build over time, ensuring that healing is thorough and sustainable.
Whether you’re working with an in-person provider or engaging in online EMDR treatment, these stages of EMDR create the framework that makes the process both safe and effective. Most of the tools outlined below focus on Phase 2 – Preparation, equipping you with practical strategies to strengthen your nervous system before deeper reprocessing begins.
Top EMDR Tools to Prepare for Online or NYC-Based Treatment
01. Use Polyvagal Theory to Track the Nervous System
A foundational part of EMDR therapy involves awareness of your nervous system states, as this helps you navigate intense emotions and maintain a sense of safety.
Polyvagal theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, provides insights into how our body’s nervous system responds to cues of safety and threat. The vagus nerve connects your brain to various body systems, influencing your reactions to stress and relaxation.
Self-Guided Nervous System Tracking
Each day, take a few minutes to observe your body’s signals. When do you feel relaxed and safe? When do you feel on edge or tense? This daily practice helps you become familiar with your “safe” state, making it easier to access during EMDR sessions.
You can download our free nervous system guide to help you start tracking.
Learn the Language of Your Nervous System
Neuroception: Your body’s subconscious assessment of safety or danger, triggering either a mobilization (fight/flight), immobilization (shutdown) response, or connection and ease.
Sympathetic Response: The fight, flight, or freeze response that results in increased heart rate and readiness for action.
Dorsal Vagal Response: A perceived lack of safety can lead to shutdown, reducing heart rate and slowing bodily functions.
Social Nervous System: The ventral vagal nerve enables engagement with the environment when you feel safe, promoting bonding and relaxation.
EMDR Tool #2: Build Your Somatic Vocabulary
Developing a “somatic vocabulary” allows you to describe bodily sensations tied to emotions, which is beneficial in EMDR therapy, especially in a city like New York City, where so much is focused on the mind.
Part of EMDR reprocessing is naming the sensations you feel in your body while thinking about the traumatic event.
You can begin to track the sensations you feel in your body daily, without assigning right or wrong.
Just begin to check in and name any sensations you are experiencing throughout the day. Using this EMDR tool outside of therapy sessions helps you prepare for the work inside on sessions.
Self-Guided EMDR Tools
Self-Guided Somatic Awareness Practice
To start building your somatic vocabulary as part of your EMDR tools, familiarize yourself with these body sensations:
Common Body Sensations: twitch, achy, damp, flaccid, breathless, constricting, airy, tingly, faint, spinning, strong, buzzy, clammy, dull, jagged, electric, puffy, cold, tingly, frozen, warmth, tightness, heaviness, lightness, numbness, buzzing, pulsing, throbbing, fluttering, and more.
You can even keep a journal where you jot down specific sensations, linking them to emotions. For instance, “tightness in the chest when thinking about work.” This habit strengthens your body awareness and emotional literacy.
Having this vocabulary in place will support you during EMDR therapy in NYC as you navigate complex emotions in a safe and grounded way.
EMDR Tool #3: Try Sensory Support for Online EMDR Treatment
In EMDR therapy, sensory support is a grounding tool that helps you stay present during difficult moments.
Surrounding yourself with comforting sensory items can create a sense of safety and stability, which is crucial for somatic and EMDR therapy in New York City. These tools are especially important if you’re doing online EMDR treatment, where your therapist isn’t in the same room to co-regulate with you. Preparing with EMDR tools like grounding objects and breath practices helps build safety, even across screens.
Self-Guided Sensory Support Exercise
To build a sensory support toolkit, follow the steps below:
Object: Find an item like a rock, crystal, or soft blanket that feels comforting. Notice how your body feels as you hold it—do you feel calmer or more grounded?
Sight: Look at a photo of family, friends, or a calming place. Pay attention to the sensations and emotions it evokes. Does it help you feel relaxed or reassured?
Words: Choose a quote or word that brings you comfort. Reflect on how these words make you feel and whether they connect you to a sense of safety.
Scent: Select a scent you enjoy, like essential oils, incense, or a familiar spice. Inhale slowly and notice how the aroma affects your body and breathing.
Sounds: Play a favorite song, nature sounds, or a soothing chant. Focus on how the sound resonates in your body, helping you feel more relaxed or present.
Taste: Try a small treat, like a mint or chocolate, savoring its taste and noticing any grounding sensations it brings.
These sensory items can serve as anchors in both EMDR therapy in NYC sessions and daily life when you need grounding outside of your therapy sessions.
EMDR Tool #4: Increase Body Awareness
A core component of EMDR therapy in New York City is understanding how trauma and stress manifest physically. Increasing body awareness through self-scanning exercises can help you identify areas of tension or ease, supporting your ability to stay grounded during reprocessing.
Self-Guided Body Awareness Exercise
Using the somatic vocabulary above, begin to increase your sensory body awareness by following the steps below:
Sit comfortably and bring awareness to your body’s contact with the chair. Focus on your breath and any immediate sensations.
Head: Notice sensations in your head and face, moving slowly from your forehead to your jaw. Do you feel any tension or relaxation?
Upper Body: Shift your attention to your shoulders and arms. Notice any heaviness, tightness, or warmth.
Belly: Focus on your abdomen, observing sensations like tightness or relaxation.
Lower Body: Bring awareness to your hips, legs, and feet, noting any differences between them.
Whole Body: Take a “snapshot” of your whole body, comparing sensations between your right and left sides.
Finish by slowly reconnecting with the room, wiggling your fingers and toes.
Practicing this self-scan regularly can make recognizing and releasing tension easier during EMDR therapy sessions.
EMDR Tool #5: Calming Breathwork to Prepare for EMDR
Calming breathing exercises like belly breathing activate the parasympathetic nervous system, bringing you into a window of tolerance.
This technique, widely used in EMDR therapy in NYC, helps regulate anxiety and fosters a sense of calm.
Self-Guided Calming Breath Exercise
Awareness: Take a moment to focus on your body. Slowly inhale, imagining air filling every cell like a balloon.
Slow Breaths: Continue to inhale and exhale slowly. If it feels challenging, reduce the breath depth until you’re comfortable.
Count to Steady Rhythm: For extra grounding, count to three on each inhale and exhale, visualizing the breath moving along the outside of a circle.
External Focus: If you feel anxious, look at a calming object, letting it ground you in the present.
This breathing practice prepares you for the deeper work involved in EMDR therapy in New York City.
Conclusion
Preparing for EMDR therapy in NYC involves developing tools that help regulate your body and mind. With techniques like polyvagal tracking, building a somatic vocabulary, sensory support, body awareness, and calming breathing, you can begin EMDR reprocessing sessions with greater confidence and control.
Whether you’re exploring somatic therapy in New York or just starting your EMDR journey, these tools empower you to engage deeply with your healing process and achieve transformative results.
Ready to Start EMDR Therapy Online or in NYC?
Whether you’re working with online EMDR therapists or exploring trauma healing in person, these EMDR tools can help you regulate, ground, and prepare for meaningful transformation.
Learn more about our EMDR Therapy Services.
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Julie Goldberg is a licensed therapist and the founder of Third Nature Therapy. Her practice focuses on helping individuals better understand their inner world, befriend their nervous system (instead of working against it), and navigate changing relationships. She offers somatic therapy, EMDR intensives, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Brooklyn, NY.